Hay Season

Chapter 20

Rylan

When in doubt, do nothing. I stayed. ~ Susan Sanford ~

Hate. It's a word that troubles me and a word I know will follow us for the rest of our lives. Let's get real. Hate isn't built on religion, skin color, cultural background, gender, orientation, the list goes on. Hate is something that is taught and fed at an early age, gained at some point in a person's life, or garnered through a life experience. The list above is an excuse for hate. It's not the real reason behind it. Therefore, hate will always exist. Each individual person has to choose whether they want their lives dictated by it, and trying to convince someone else not to live that way is like talking to a brick wall. You can try, but once the seed is planted, it takes a miracle to stop its growth. When you use God as your excuse to hate, it's probably already had time to grow into that person's tree of life. It takes a lot of faith to cut it down for a new seed to grow.

~Our Hometown of Dewbridge/Journal Entry by Thomas Ballerini

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It takes me a minute to realize the source of what it is that woke me up. Mattie is cuddled beside my side but stirs when she feels movement. I hold her tight to let her know it's okay, but my senses are on high alert.

"Everything okay?" she whispers.

"Not sure," I whisper back.

I'm not sure why we feel the need to speak in a low tone. The smell of smoke is getting stronger. Pushing the covers down, I grab my athletic pants off the floor and slip into them. Mattie quietly follows my lead.

"It's not the tree house, is it?"

I shake my head. "No, it's farther away."

I can see the light from up here through the open window. Studying it for a minute, I realize where it's coming from. Rushing to pull my shoes on, I make a beeline for the ladder.

"That's Thomas and Darby's place."

Mattie hurries after me. "I'm coming with you."

Helping her off the bottom of the ladder, we run to my truck and jump inside. Driving past the speed limit, we arrive at the land my dad helped them move the trailer to a few weeks ago. It's on the edge of our property, which made it easy to be seen from the tree house.

"Holy shit," Mattie curses from the passenger seat.

I know it's a big deal before I see it because it takes a lot to get a curse word from Mack. My chest tightens at the scene. When we pull in, a giant burning cross is lit up, lighting the yard in its glow. Thomas and Darby are out in the yard in their pajamas, working hard to extinguish the flames. We share a look before jumping out of the truck to help them. By the time we make it to them, Darby is crying, and Thomas is swearing a blue river.

"It's my father. I know it is," Darby cries out. Mattie places an arm around her shoulder and leads her away. She doesn't need to inhale the smoke while pregnant. I grab a full bucket nearby and throw the water at the flames. It's helping. The heat is dying down. By the time we get it out, we're both breathing heavily. Collapsing to the ground, we watch the last embers fade away. The dark, charred wood looks ominous. Looking at my watch, I see the early morning hours blinking at me, 3:30 AM. We don't say anything. I want to reassure my buddy, but there are no words.

"I thought we left this kind of shit behind years ago, back in my grandfather's day. Apparently, I was wrong. I don't know why I thought Darby's dad would let this go. We haven't heard anything from him since the day her brother helped us out."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, I wish I could understand people. "We don't know for sure he's the one that did this."

Thomas cuts his eyes at me, and I sigh. "Okay, so if it wasn't him, then it was someone who's friends with him. She's his daughter, and something has put a lot of hate in that man. Unfortunately, we're going to have to weather this storm out."

"We're?" Thomas smiles for the first time since we arrived. I return it.

"We're in this together, brother."

I stand and hold my hand out. He takes it in a firm grip, and I help him up. We survey the dying embers one more time. "That's a huge fucking mess we're going to have to face later, but for now, why don't we all go inside and get a couple more hours of sleep?"

"Sounds good to me." His grin is cocky now when he glances at me.

"So, you and Mattie?"

I punch him playfully in the arm. "I don't want to hear you talk smack. Any smack that comes out about her, I'm likely to come unglued."

He chuckles before turning serious. "We got lucky, man."

We can see the girls through the window, and my heart flips when I watch her. I'm fucked, and I know it.